Source: www.bdonline.co.uk
Kingdom Tower would be twice the height of Burj Khalifa
Saudi Arabia is reported to be planning a mile-high skyscraper within an HOK-designed masterplan for the edge of Jeddah.
The 1,600m-tall Kingdom Tower would dwarf the current tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is half its height. Lifts would take a reported 12 minutes to reach the top floor.
Chicago practice Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture was rumoured to be the architect, but its director of public affairs, Kevin Nance, insisted no announcement had been made. He dismissed press reports as “based on anonymous, unofficial sources”.
In a statement he said: “It is not accurate to say that we deny being the architect of Kingdom Tower. We neither confirm nor deny it.
“We do deny, in the plainest possible terms, that the renderings and videos posted with the reports on Kingdom Tower are the work of our firm. They are most assuredly not our work.
“We also deny, equally plainly, that we are working on a ’mile-high’ tower design. We are doing no such thing.”
Adrian Smith designed the Burj Khalifa when he worked for SOM.
The proposed new monster tower, which is being financed by Saudi Royal family-owned Kingdom Holding Company, would contain 3.5 million sq m of office, hotel and residential space.
It would stand within what may become a diplomatic district in Jeddah which is being masterplanned by HOK under the leadership of Saudi practice Omrania & Associates.
